The pace of change in the advertising industry and the constant stream of technological advances is breath-taking. It seems that the out-of-home (OOH) market is best-placed to take advantage of these changes; it can consistently better itself and deliver richer and more interactive campaigns without the perennial headache endured by other channels of having to keep up with severe shifts in consumption habits.

With change and innovation coming so thick and fast, it’s often hard to keep track of where we are right now and what lies within the realm of possibility. In the case of OOH, a very good place to start would be Ocean Outdoor’s Digital Creative Competition, a competition which encourages creativity in digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaigns. Agencies submit prototype ideas for exciting, boundary-pushing campaigns, and Ocean Outdoor award the winners with a £650,000 prize pot to make those campaigns a reality.

The winners of the 2016 competition were announced last Thursday (13 October) and provide a deeply insightful and frankly staggering glimpse of what can be achieved on DOOH screens right now. This week’s campaign spotlight takes a look at each of the competition’s winners as a celebration of creativity and a reminder of what OOH…can DOOH.

The winner of the competition’s Creative Techniques category was WCRS, who through their proposal to make car insurance advertising more personal and engaging, perfectly demonstrated the new capabilities of outdoor. Using Ocean Outdoor’s ‘unique vehicle recognition technology’, WCRS devised a Drive-Thru-style digital screen which identifies passing cars’ makes and models and serves them personalised messages about how Churchill insurance would work for them. ‘Afternoon Officer’ is the message as a police car drives past, adding a dose of Churchie’s classic humour to the concept.

Judges’ verdict: “They have understood what you can do with data and they can get away with being cheeky; that’s why it works. The use of data and graphics is very good. They have translated the tone of the brand really well. It’s inoffensive, happy, on brand and there are many executions to keep it going.”

International Winner: Space for Giants ‘March for Giants’ / 18 Feet and Rising

While WCRS’ campaign for Churchill capitalises on the technological advances of OOH, this year’s international winner 18 Feet and Rising came up with an idea that taps into the medium’s omnipresence across most of the globe and its potential to create a global movement. The agency’s proposal was for Space for Giants, a charity that is fighting back against falling numbers of elephants across the world. For a ‘small but meaningful’ donation, brands can attach their colours and logos to their own virtual elephant, culminating in a march of digital elephants across screens around the world. Individuals too can add their names to digital baby elephants, adding even greater potential to the charity’s fundraising. The campaign is not only powerful and for an excellent cause, it also cleverly taps into the way brands are increasingly big on corporate social responsibility and by getting brands on board there is real scope for generating meaningful donations.

Judges’ verdict: “There’s something very altruistic about this idea and it should be extended to anyone with digital screens in the world. To see this virtual march of elephants happening across the world is a massive idea. And who wouldn’t want a branded elephant?”

Nothing quite demonstrates a biscuits credentials in this country as its dunkability. Aware of this integral aspect of a British biscuit’s being is Kinetic Active, which won the Interactive category for a campaign which gets everyone involved in a nationwide experiment testing McVitie’s biscuits’ dunking endurance. Screens will show D.U.N.C.A.N, an interactive dunking robot that can be controlled by the phones or tablets of passers-by, and whoever gets the most dunks out of D.U.N.C.A.N will win a year’s supply of their favourite McVitie’s biscuit. The campaign is fun, incredibly interactive, and provides an interesting example of the link-up between mobile devices and DOOH screens.

Judges’ verdict: “Dunking biscuits. They’ve made it fun and made it brilliant. It’s a simple idea, people will definitely engage with it because it’s a fun thing to do. It’s also a cracking poster. It’s typical for the Brits to vote for a tea and biscuits campaign, but we have.”

If you thought the McVitie’s campaign was like something out of a futuristic sci-fi epic, then you’ll need to sit down for this one. Kinetic Active also scooped the international prize for the category with a modernised take on the story of the sword and the stone to promote the upcoming release of Guy Ritchie’s latest film, King Arthur. In three locations across the world, namely London, New York and Hong Kong, digital screens will hold a quest to find a daily King or Queen based on who can pull the sword from the stone. The winners, who will receive tickets to the premiere, will be chosen using pressure detectors, biometric sensors and emotion recognition cameras to ensure only those worthy of the crown will free the sword and secure their coronation.

Judges’ verdict: “This works in many UK locations and globally. There’s lots of opportunity to interact. It has definitely got crowd appeal and could be really good fun.

To take a look at the full list of winners and runners-up, click here.